Small thermal mass pressurized chamber

ABSTRACT

Embodiments described herein generally relate to a processing chamber incorporating a small thermal mass which enable efficient temperature cycling for supercritical drying processes. The chamber generally includes a body, a liner, and an insulation element which enables the liner to exhibit a small thermal mass relative to the body. The chamber is also configured with suitable apparatus for generating and/or maintaining supercritical fluid within a processing volume of the chamber.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/236,912, filed Oct. 4, 2015, the entirety of which is hereinincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to supercriticaldrying apparatus. More specifically, embodiments described herein relateto a small thermal mass pressurized chamber.

Description of the Related Art

In the cleaning of semiconductor devices, it is often desirable toremove liquid and solid contaminants from surfaces of a substrate, thusleaving clean surfaces. Wet cleaning processes generally involve the useof cleaning liquids, such as aqueous cleaning solutions. After wetcleaning the substrate, it is often desirable to remove the cleaningliquid from the surface of the substrate in a cleaning chamber.

Most current wet cleaning techniques utilize a liquid spraying orimmersion step to clean the substrate. Drying of the substrate that hashigh aspect ratio features or low-k materials which have voids or poresis very challenging subsequent to the application of a cleaning liquid.Capillary forces of the cleaning liquid often cause deformation ofmaterials in these structures which can create undesired stiction, whichcan damage the semiconductor substrate in addition to leaving residue onthe substrate from the cleaning solution utilized. The aforementionedchallenges are especially apparent on substrates with high-aspect-ratiosemiconductor device structures during subsequent drying of thesubstrate. Line stiction, or line collapse, results from bending of theside walls, which form the high-aspect-ratio trench or via, towards eachother due to capillary pressure across the liquid-air interface over theliquid trapped in the trench or via during the wet cleaning process(es).Features with narrow line width and high-aspect-ratios are especiallysusceptible to the difference in surface tension created betweenliquid-air and liquid-wall interfaces due to capillary pressure, whichis also sometimes referred to as capillary force. Current workabledrying practices are facing a steeply rising challenge in preventingline stiction as a result of rapid device scaling advancements.

As a result, there is a need in the art for improved apparatus forperforming supercritical drying processes.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a substrate processing apparatus is provided. Theapparatus includes a chamber body defining a processing volumeconfigured to operate at elevated pressures. The chamber body includes aliner disposed within the chamber body adjacent the processing volumeand an insulation element disposed within the chamber body adjacent theliner. The insulation element may have a coefficient of thermalexpansion similar to a coefficient of thermal expansion of the chamberbody and the liner. A substrate support may be coupled to a door and abaffle plate disposed in the processing volume may be coupled to anactuator configured to move the baffle plate within the processingvolume.

In another embodiment, a substrate processing apparatus is provided. Theapparatus includes a platform having a transfer chamber and a processingchamber coupled thereon. The processing chamber may be disposed at atilted angle relative to the transfer chamber. The processing chamberincludes a chamber body defining a processing volume configured tooperate at elevated pressures. The chamber body includes a linerdisposed within the chamber body adjacent the processing volume and aninsulation element disposed within the chamber body adjacent the liner.The insulation element may have a coefficient of thermal expansionsimilar to a coefficient of thermal expansion of the chamber body andthe liner. A substrate support may be coupled to a door and a baffleplate disposed in the processing volume may be coupled to an actuatorconfigured to move the baffle plate within the processing volume.

In yet another embodiment, a substrate processing method is provided.The method includes disposing a substrate on a substrate support in aprocessing chamber. The substrate support may be tilted with respect togravity and a solvent may be introduced to the processing chamber in anamount to at least partially submerge the substrate. A baffle plate maybe positioned over the substrate, supercritical CO₂ may be generated inthe processing chamber, and the substrate may be exposed to thesupercritical CO₂.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the presentdisclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description ofthe disclosure, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference toembodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Itis to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate onlyexemplary embodiments and are therefore not to be considered limiting ofits scope, may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates the effect of stiction created between featuresformed on a semiconductor substrate according to embodiments describedherein.

FIG. 2A illustrates a plan view of processing apparatus according to oneembodiment described herein.

FIG. 2B illustrates a plan view of a processing apparatus according toone embodiment described herein.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a cross-sectional view of a smallthermal mass processing chamber according to one embodiment describedherein.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a sectional side view of a smallthermal mass processing chamber according to one embodiment describedherein.

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a side view of a processing platformincorporating a small thermal mass processing chamber according toembodiments described herein.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures. It is contemplated that elements and features of oneembodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments withoutfurther recitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the embodiments provided herein. However, it will beevident to one skilled in the art that the present disclosure may bepracticed without these specific details. In other instances, specificapparatus structures have not been described so as not to obscureembodiments described. The following description and figures areillustrative of the embodiments and are not to be construed as limitingthe disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view that illustrates a portion ofa semiconductor device 100 in which line stiction has occurred betweentwo features within the semiconductor device 100. As shown, the highaspect ratio device structures are formed on a surface of a substrate.During processing, device structures 102 should remain in a verticalorientation and walls 106 should not cross the openings 104 and contactadjacent walls 106 of the device structures 102. When the semiconductordevice 100 is being dried after being cleaned with wet chemistries, thewalls 106 of the device structures 102 are subjected to capillary forcesdue to the air-liquid interface created by the cleaning liquid disposedwithin the opening 104. The capillary forces cause the walls 106 ofadjacent device structures 102 to bend towards one another and contacteach other. Line stiction results from the contact between walls 106 ofadjacent device structures 102, ultimately causing closure of theopenings 104. Line stiction is generally undesirable because it preventsaccess to the openings 104 during subsequent substrate processing steps,such as further deposition steps.

To prevent line stiction, a substrate may be exposed to an aqueouscleaning solution, such as de-ionized water or cleaning chemicals, in awet clean chamber. Such a substrate includes a semiconductor substratehaving electronic devices disposed or formed thereon. The use of theaqueous cleaning solutions on the substrate in a wet clean chamberremoves residues left on the substrate after the wet cleaning processeshave been performed. In some configurations, the wet clean chamber maybe a single wafer cleaning chamber and/or a horizontal spinning chamber.Additionally, the wet clean chamber may have a megasonic plate adaptedto generate acoustic energy directed onto the non-device side of thesubstrate.

After wet cleaning the substrate, the substrate may be transferred to asolvent exchange chamber to displace any previously used aqueouscleaning solutions used in the wet clean chamber. The substrate may thenbe transferred to a supercritical fluid chamber for further cleaning anddrying steps to be performed on the substrate. In one embodiment, dryingthe substrate may involve the delivery of a supercritical fluid to asurface of the substrate. A drying gas may be selected to transitioninto a supercritical state when subjected to certain pressure andtemperature configurations that are achieved or maintained in thesupercritical processing chamber. One example of such a drying gasincludes carbon dioxide (CO₂). Since supercritical CO₂ is asupercritical gas, it has no surface tension in that its surface tensionis similar to a gas, but has densities that are similar to a liquid.Supercritical CO₂ has a critical point at a pressure of about 73.0 atmand a temperature of about 31.1° C. One unique property of asupercritical fluid, such as CO₂, is that condensation will not occur atany pressure above the supercritical pressure and temperatures above thesupercritical point (e.g., 31.1° C. and 73 atm for CO₂). Criticaltemperature and critical pressure parameters of a processingenvironment, such as a processing chamber, influence the supercriticalstate of the CO₂ drying gas.

The supercritical fluid, due to its unique properties, may penetratesubstantially all pores or voids in the substrate and remove anyremaining liquids or particles that may be present in the openings 104.In one embodiment, after the supercritical processing has proceeded fora desired period of time to remove particles and residues, the pressureof the chamber is decreased at a nearly constant temperature, allowingthe supercritical fluid to transition directly to a gaseous phase withinthe openings 104. Liquids typically present in the openings 104 prior tosupercritical fluid treatment may be displacement solvents from thesolvent exchange chamber. Particles typically present in the openings104 may be any solid particulate matter, such as organic species (i.e.,carbon), inorganic species (i.e. silicon), and/or metals. Examples ofopenings 104 that may be dried by supercritical fluid include voids orpores in a dielectric layer, voids or pores in a low-k dielectricmaterial, and other types of gaps in the substrate that may trapcleaning fluids and particles. Moreover, supercritical drying mayprevent line stiction by bypassing the liquid state during phasetransition and eliminating capillary forces created between the walls106 of the device structures 102 due to the due to the negligiblesurface tension of supercritical fluid, such as supercritical CO₂.

The substrate may then be transferred from the supercritical fluidchamber to a post processing chamber. The post processing chamber may bea plasma processing chamber, in which contaminants that may be presenton the substrate may be removed. Post processing the substrate may alsofurther release any line stiction present in the device structures. Theprocesses described herein are useful for cleaning device structureshaving high aspect ratios, such as aspect ratios of about 10:1 orgreater, 20:1 or greater, or 30:1 or greater. In certain embodiments,the processes described herein are useful for cleaning 3D/vertical NANDflash device structures.

FIG. 2A illustrates a substrate processing apparatus that may be adaptedto perform one or more of the operations described above, according toone embodiment of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, theprocessing apparatus 200 comprises a wet clean chamber 201, a solventexchange chamber 202, a supercritical fluid chamber 203, a postprocessing chamber 204, a transfer chamber 206, and a wet robot 208.Processing a substrate may include, but is not limited to, formingelectrical devices such as transistors, capacitors, or resistors, thatare interconnected by metal lines, which are insulated by interlayerdielectrics upon the substrate. These processes may include cleaning thesubstrate, cleaning films formed on the substrate, drying the substrate,and drying films formed on the substrate. In another embodiment, theprocessing apparatus 200 includes an inspection chamber 205, which mayinclude tools (not shown) to inspect substrates that have been processedin the processing apparatus 200.

In one embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus 200 is a clustertool comprising several substrate processing chambers, such as the wetclean chamber 201, the solvent exchange chamber 202, the supercriticalfluid chamber 203, the post processing chamber 204, and the transferchamber 206. The chambers 201, 202, 203, 204 may be positioned about thewet robot 208 which may be disposed in the transfer chamber 206. The wetrobot 208 comprises a motor, a base, an arm, and an end effector 209configured to transfer substrates between the chambers. Optionally, thewet robot 208 may have multiple arms and multiple end effectors toincrease the throughput of the processing apparatus 200. In oneembodiment, the wet robot 208 transfers substrates between theaforementioned chambers. In another embodiment, at least one of the endeffectors of the wet robot 208 is a dedicated dry end effector (e.g.,adapted to handle dry wafers) and at least one of the end effectors ofthe wet robot 208 is a dedicated wet end effector (e.g., adapted tohandle wet wafers). The dedicated dry end effector may be used totransfer substrates between the supercritical fluid chamber 203 and thepost processing chamber 204.

The processing apparatus 200 also comprises a dry robot 216 disposed ina factory interface 218 which may be coupled to the processing apparatus200 and a plurality of substrate cassettes 212 and 214, each holding aplurality of substrates to be cleaned or dried, or that have beencleaned or dried. The dry robot 216 may be configured to transfersubstrates between the cassettes 212 and 214 and the wet clean chamber201 and post processing chamber 204. In another embodiment, the dryrobot 216 may be configured to transfer substrates between thesupercritical fluid chamber 203 and the post processing chamber 204. Theprocessing chambers within the processing apparatus 200 may be placed ona horizontal platform which houses the substrate transfer chamber 206.In another embodiment, a portion of the platform may be oriented in aposition other than a horizontal orientation (See FIG. 5).

In an alternate embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2B, the processingapparatus 200A may be a linear apparatus comprising several substrateprocessing chambers such as the wet clean chamber 201, the solventexchange chamber 202, the supercritical fluid chamber 203, the postprocessing chamber 204, and the transfer chamber 206. For example, theprocessing apparatus 200A may be the Raider® GT available from AppliedMaterials, Santa Clara, Calif., however it is contemplated that otherprocessing apparatuses from other manufacturers may be adapted toperform the embodiments described herein.

The chambers 201, 202, 203, 204 may be positioned about a robot 208Awhich may be disposed in the transfer chamber 206. The robot 208Acomprises a motor, a base, an arm, and end effectors 209A and 209Bconfigured to transfer substrates between the chambers. The robot 208Amay have multiple arms and multiple end effectors to increase thethroughput of the processing apparatus 200A. In one embodiment, therobot 208A, having a dedicated wet end effector 209A, transferssubstrates between the aforementioned chambers. The processing apparatus200A may also comprise a factory interface 218 which may be coupled tothe processing apparatus 200 and a plurality of substrate cassettes 212and 214, each holding a plurality of substrates to be cleaned or dried,or that have been cleaned or dried. The robot 208A having the dedicateddry end effector 209B, transfers substrates between the cassettes 212and 214 and the wet clean chamber 201 and post processing chamber 204.In one embodiment, the dedicated dry end effector 209B may be configuredto transfer substrates between the supercritical fluid chamber 203 andthe post processing chamber 204. The chambers within the processingapparatus 200A may be placed on a horizontal platform which houses thesubstrate transfer chamber 206. In another embodiment, a portion of theplatform may be oriented in a position other than a horizontalorientation (See FIG. 5).

In some configurations of the processing apparatus 200A, the robot 208Amay travel along a linear track 220. Chambers may be arranged insequence on one or both sides of the linear track 220. To perform wetsubstrate transfer, excess liquid may be remove from the substrate, suchas by rotating the substrate, while still in the chamber so only a thinwet layer remains on the substrate surface before the robot 208Atransfers the substrate. In embodiments providing two or more endeffectors on the robot 208A, at least one may be dedicated to wetsubstrate transfer and the other one may be dedicated to dry substratetransfer. More chambers may be installed in the extendable linearconfiguration for high-volume production.

The configurations referred to in the previous embodiments greatlyreduce design complexities of each chamber, enable queue time controlbetween sensitive process steps, and optimize throughput in continuousproduction with adjustable chamber module count to equalize processduration of each processing operation.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a cross-sectional view of a smallthermal mass processing chamber 300 according to one embodimentdescribed herein. In certain embodiments, the chamber 300 may beimplemented as the chamber 203 described with regard to FIG. 2A and FIG.2B. Generally, the chamber 300 is configured to withstand pressurizationsuitable for generation and/or maintenance of a supercritical fluidtherein. The chamber 300 may also be advantageously cycled within atemperature range suitable for performing phase transitions.

The chamber 300 includes a body 302, a liner 318, and an insulationelement 316. The body 302 and the liner 318 generally define aprocessing volume 312. The body 302 may be configured to withstandpressures suitable for generating a supercritical fluid within theprocessing volume 312. For example, the body may be suitable forwithstanding pressures of about 100 bar or greater. Suitable materialsfor the body 302 include stainless steel, aluminum, or other highstrength metallic materials. The liner 318 may also be formed frommaterials similar to the body 302. In one embodiment, the liner 318 andthe body 302 may be a unitary apparatus. In another embodiment, theliner 318 and the body 302 may be separate apparatus coupled together.

The liner 318, at regions adjacent the processing volume 312, may have athickness 344 of between about 2 mm and about 5 mm, such as about 3 mm.The relatively minimal amount of material comprising the liner 318compared to the body 302 causes the liner 318 to have a small thermalmass relative to the thermal mass of the body 302. Accordingly,temperature changes within the processing volume 312 may be made in amore efficient manner as the temperature of the processing volume 312 isinfluenced predominantly by the liner 318, rather than the body 302. Inone embodiment, a processing environment within the processing volume312 may be cycled between about 20° C. and about 50° C. in an amount oftime less than about 5 minutes, for example less than about 1 minute. Inone embodiment, the processing volume 312 may be cycled between about20° C. and about 50° C. in about 30 seconds.

The insulation element 316 is generally disposed within the body 302adjacent the liner 318. In the illustrated embodiment, the insulationelement 316 may be multiple apparatus. The insulation element 316 maygeneral extend along a long axis of the processing volume 312 to furtherreduce the thermal mass of the liner 318 by insulating the liner 318from the body 302. The insulation element 316 may be formed form amaterial suitable for use in a high pressure environment which has acoefficient of thermal expansion similar to the coefficient of thermalexpansion for the materials utilized for the body 302 and the liner 318.In one embodiment, the insulation element 316 may be a ceramic material.Various examples of ceramic materials include aluminum oxide, aluminumnitride, silicon carbide, and the like. A thickness 346 of theinsulation element 316 may be between about 0.1 inches and about 1.0inch, such as about 0.5 inches.

The processing volume 312 has a volume of less than about 2 liters, forexample, about 1 liter. A distance 348 spanning the processing volume312 between the liner 318 may be less than about 5 cm, such as less thanabout 2 cm, for example, about 1 cm. In various embodiments, theprocessing volume 312 may be filled with various liquids, gases, and/orsupercritical fluids depending on the conditions in the processingvolume 312. In one embodiment, the processing volume 312 may be coupledto one or more solvent sources 320, 332, 336. A first solvent source 320may be coupled to the processing volume 312 via a first conduit 322through a top of the body 302. A second solvent source 332 maybe coupledto the processing volume 312 via a second conduit 334 through a sidewallof the body 302. A third solvent source 336 may be coupled to theprocessing volume 312 via a third conduit 338 through a bottom of thebody 312. The solvent sources 320, 332, 336 may be configured to providesolvents to the processing volume from various entry ports, dependingupon desired solvent introduction characteristics.

Suitable solvents which may be supplied to the processing volume 312from the solvent sources 320, 332, 336 include acetone, isopropylalcohol, ethanol, methanol, N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone, N-Methylformamide,1,3-Dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone, dimethylacetamide, and dimethylsulfoxide, among others. Generally the solvent may be selected such thatthe solvent is miscible with liquid CO₂.

A first fluid source 324 may be coupled to the processing volume 312 viafourth conduit 326 through the top of the body 302. The first fluidsource 324 is generally configured to provide a liquid or supercriticalfluid to the processing volume 312. In one embodiment, the first fluidsource 324 may be configured to deliver supercritical CO₂. In anotherembodiment, the fluid source 324 may be configured to deliversupercritical CO₂ to the processing volume 312. In this embodiment,heating apparatus and pressurization apparatus may be coupled to thefourth conduit 326 to facilitate phase transition of liquid CO₂ tosupercritical CO₂ prior to entry into the processing volume 312. Asecond fluid source 356 may be similarly configured to the first fluidsource 324. However, the second fluid source 356 may be coupled to theprocessing volume via a fifth conduit 358 through the bottom of the body302. Delivery of liquid CO₂ and/or supercritical CO₂ may be selectedfrom a top down (first fluid source 324) or bottom up (second fluidsource 356) scheme, depending upon desired processing characteristics.

In operation, temperature of the processing volume 312 may becontrolled, at least in part, by the temperature of the CO₂ provided tothe processing volume 312. Additionally, liquid CO₂ and/or supercriticalCO₂ may be provided to the processing volume 312 in an amount such thatthe entire processing volume is exchanged between about 1 time and about5 times, for example, about 3 times. It is believed that repetitiveprocessing volume turnover may facilitate solvent mixing with the CO₂prior to formation of and/or delivery of supercritical CO₂ to theprocessing volume 312 during subsequent supercritical drying operations.To facilitate turnover and removal of fluids and gases from theprocessing volume 312, the processing volume 312 may be coupled to afluid outlet 340 via a sixth conduit 342.

The chamber 300 also includes a substrate support 306 which may becoupled to a door 304 and a baffle plate 310 may be movably disposedwithin the processing volume 312. In one embodiment, the substratesupport 306 and the door 304 may be a unitary apparatus. In anotherembodiment, the substrate 306 may be removably coupled to the door 304and may move independently of the door 304. The door 304 and thesubstrate support 306 may be formed from various materials, includingstainless steel, aluminum, ceramic material, polymeric materials orcombinations thereof. The substrate support 306 may also have a heatingelement 354 disposed therein. The heating element 354 may be a resistiveheater in one embodiment. In another embodiment, the heating element 354may be a fluid filled channel formed in the substrate support 306. Theheating element 354 may be configured to heat the processing volume 312to facilitate formation or maintenance of a supercritical fluid in theprocessing volume 312.

In operation, the substrate support 306 may enter the processing volume312 via an opening formed in the body 302 and the door 304 may beconfigured to abut the body 302 when the substrate support 306 ispositioned within the processing volume 312. In one embodiment, thesubstrate support 306 is configured to move laterally. As a result, thedistance 348 may be minimized because vertical movement of the substratesupport 306 within the processing volume 312 is unnecessary. A seal 352,such as an o-ring or the like, may be coupled to the body 302 and theseal 352 may be formed from an elastomeric material, such as a polymericmaterial. Generally, the door 304 may be secured to the body 302 duringprocessing via coupling apparatus (not shown), such as bolts or thelike, with sufficient force to withstand a high pressure environmentsuitable to forming or maintaining a supercritical fluid in theprocessing volume 312.

The baffle plate 310 may be formed from various materials, includingstainless steel, aluminum, ceramic materials, quartz materials, siliconcontaining materials, or other suitably configured materials. The baffleplate 310 may be coupled to an actuator 330 configured to move thebaffle plate 310 towards and away from the substrate support 306. Theactuator 330 may be coupled to a power source 328, such as an electricalpower source to facilitate movement of the baffle plate 310 within theprocessing volume 312.

A substrate 308 may be positioned on the substrate support 306 duringprocessing. In one embodiment, a device side 314 of the substrate 308may be positioned adjacent he substrate support 306 such that the deviceside 314 faces away from the baffle plate 310. In operation, the baffleplate 310 may be in a raised position when the substrate 308 is beingpositioned within the processing volume 312. The baffle plate 310 may belowered via the actuator 330 to a processing position in close proximitywith the substrate 308 during processing. After processing, the baffleplate 310 may be raised and the substrate support 306 may remove thesubstrate 308 from the processing volume 312 through the opening 350 inthe body 302. It is believed that by positioning the baffle plate 310 inclose proximity with the substrate 308 and the substrate support 306,particle deposition on the device side 314 of the substrate 308 may bereduced or eliminated during introduction of solvents and/orliquid/supercritical CO₂ to the processing volume 312.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a sectional side view of the chamber300 according to one embodiment described herein. In the illustratedembodiment, the liner 318 may entirely surround and define theprocessing volume 312. In this embodiment, the insulation element 316may entirely surround the liner 318. In certain embodiments, theinsulation element 316 may not entirely surround the liner 318. Forexample, the short axis of the liner 318 may not be encased with theinsulation element 316.

One or more fluid conduits 402 may be disposed in the body 302. Thefluid conduits 402 may be coupled to a thermal management fluid source404 via a seventh conduit 406. The fluid source 404 may be configured toprovide a fluid, such as water, ethylene glycol, or the like, to thefluid conduits 402 to control the temperature of the body 302.Accordingly, the fluid conduits 402 may be utilized to heat or cool thebody 302 and facilitate thermal cycling of the chamber 300.

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a side view of a processing platform500 incorporating the chamber 300 according to embodiments describedherein. It is contemplated that the platform 500 may be similar to theprocessing apparatus 200 or the processing apparatus 200A. Generally,the chamber 300 maybe coupled to the transfer chamber 206, both of whichmay be disposed on the platform 500. In the illustrated embodiment, thechamber 300 may be angled or tilted from a horizontal orientation. Inthis embodiment, the chamber 300 may be disposed at an angle 506relative to an axis defined by a datum plane 504. In one embodiment, theangle 506 which determines the tilted orientation of the chamber 300 maybe between about 10° and about 90° relative to the datum plane 504. Achamber support 502 may be coupled to the chamber 300 and configured tosupport the chamber 300 in the tilted orientation.

The tilted orientation of the chamber 300 may advantageously enablefilling of the processing volume 312 with a solvent prior to positioningthe substrate 308 in the processing volume 312. As a result, the solventcontact with the substrate 308 may be maximized to prevent drying of thesubstrate 308 prior to performing solvent exchange and supercriticaldrying processes. The sixth conduit 342 may be coupled to the processingvolume 312 at a position configured to collect substantially all of anyfluid in the processing volume 312. In other words, the sixth conduit342 may be coupled to the “lowest” region of the processing volume 312.Thus, when it is desirable to remove fluids, such as liquid solventsand/or liquid CO₂, from the processing volume, the fluids may outflow tothe fluid outlet 340 in an efficient manner utilizing the force ofgravity.

Embodiments described herein provide for an improved chamber forperforming pressurized substrate processing operations. The chamberemploys a small thermal mass adjacent the processing volume to enabletemperature cycling. In addition, temperatures of the chamber may becontrolled in a more efficient and timely manner. Thus, supercriticaldrying processes may be implemented with improved throughput andprocessing results.

While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the presentdisclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may bedevised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scopethereof is determined by the claims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: achamber body defining a processing volume for operating at elevatedpressures, wherein the chamber body comprises: a liner disposed withinthe chamber body adjacent the processing volume; and an insulationelement disposed within the chamber body and extending along a majoraxis of the processing volume, wherein the insulation element has acoefficient of thermal expansion similar to a coefficient of thermalexpansion of the chamber body and the liner, and wherein the liner is incontact with the insulation element such that the liner is encased bythe insulation element and separates the insulation element from theprocessing volume; a door movably disposed adjacent to the chamber body;a substrate support coupled to the door and disposed within theprocessing volume; and a baffle plate disposed within the processingvolume.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the liner has a thermalmass less than a thermal mass of the chamber body.
 3. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the insulation element is disposed between the linerand the chamber body.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substratesupport is configured to move into and out of the processing volume. 5.The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the substrate support is coupled to aheating element.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the baffle plateis coupled to an actuator to move the baffle plate within the processingvolume and the actuator is configured to raise and lower the baffleplate.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the baffle plate includes amaterial selected from the group consisting of stainless steel,aluminum, ceramic materials, quartz materials, and mixtures andcombinations thereof.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theinsulation element does not border the processing volume.
 9. A substrateprocessing apparatus, comprising: a chamber body defining a processingvolume for operating at elevated pressures, wherein the chamber bodycomprises: a liner disposed within the chamber body adjacent theprocessing volume; and an insulation element disposed within the chamberand extending along a major axis of the processing volume, wherein theinsulation element has a coefficient of thermal expansion similar to acoefficient of thermal expansion of the chamber body and the liner, andwherein the liner is in contact with the insulation element andseparates the insulation element from the processing volume such thatthe insulation element is not in direct contact with the processingvolume; a door movably disposed adjacent to the chamber body; asubstrate support coupled to the door and disposed within the processingvolume; and a baffle plate disposed within the processing volume. 10.The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the liner defines the processingvolume, and wherein the insulation element is disposed between the linerand the chamber body.
 11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the liner isencased by the insulation element.